I'll Be Home For Christmas
by Taborc
Summary: A certain someone comes home for the holidays, but will he stay home? (kind of angsty i guess ? maybe? hrrrhhhh i dont know)


A/N: I whipped up the ending really fast when I was listening to the Christmas song, and I did the beginning afterwards, so it might read a little weird. Also I kind of messed up with the tense, I switched accidentally to past tense in the middle but I tried to fix it. I haven't written a fic in a really long time so I hope this isn't too bad! Thank you for reading!

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The fire crackles in the fireplace, warm and inviting. The weather outside, however, isn't quite as forgiving. For robots, that can be quite a problem. They can freeze up and not be able to move in that kind of cold.

Rock knows this, and looks outside worriedly, gazing into the blank whiteness. He hopes that Blues isn't out in this kind of weather. _The guy is completely hopeless, not even coming home for the holidays!_ Even Light agreed that going out in this weather was a mistake.

It's getting late, almost midnight. But Rock continues to sit by the fire, doing what he does every year when this time of year rolls around. Waiting. Everyone has long since gone to bed, has long since given up hope that _he_ would come.

But Rock refuses to give up hope. At least, he isn't giving up quite yet. He sits there for a while longer, dozing off and having strange dreams. Well, not so much 'dreams' as dreamlike hallucinations. Robots can't really dream, but Rock prefers the word to 'hallucination'.

Around midnight, he awakes suddenly to see someone standing in front of him. Still dozy, he looks up and sees a face he doesn't quite recognize. A helmet is tucked under the figure's arm, and he's close enough to reach out and touch. Rock, instead of looking like a complete moron and randomly placing his hand on someone's chest, blinks a few times and stares in confusion.

"Surprised to see me, brother?" A familiar voice asks, smirking widely.

Rock's face lights up. This felt like a real Christmas miracle to him. His brother was finally home, and with not a moment to spare. It was just a few days before Christmas, after all! "What are you doing here?!" He asks excitedly, smiling so wide that he was sure his face would split in two.

"It was too cold to stay outside, so I came here. Not a very difficult concept to understand." Blues sinks into a chair across from Rock, taking off his winter scarf, which is a lot thicker than his usual one, and draping it over the back. His smile weakens a bit. "I'm getting a bit too unstable to stay out in weather like this."

Rock looks away. "Well, that's what home is for, right? To come to when you need to relax and recharge, when the going gets to rough."

Blues laughs, but it's a hollow laugh. One that doesn't have any humor or happiness behind it. But when he replies, his voice is soft, tinged with regret. "You know very well I can't do that, Rock. I can't stay much longer either."

"Are you sure? I know Father wouldn't mind... He still cares about you, you know!" Hope.

The older robot just looks into the fire, his eyes reflecting the light in a way that seems warm but feels very cold. The smile is gone from his face now. He sighs, saying nothing.

"I...," Rock's voice trails off. He wished he could say what he wanted to, but something held him back. "I'll get us some cocoa or something." He shuffles off to the kitchen, waiting while the water boils. He looks around nervouly, trying to take his mind off the fact that his brother was less than thirty feet away from him, closer than he'd been in a long time. Talking to his brother was just as intense as he remembered it. Even when they were only talking about trivial things, it still made him endlessly anxious.

Rock snaps out of his deep thoughts when the kettle started to whistle, jumping in the air when it did so. He decides to mix in an E-tank with Blues' cocoa. He needed it.

Smiling as he walks back into the room, he hands Blues' drink to him, sitting back down. He waits patiently for his to cool before he drinks it, but Rock gulps it down in one go.

They sit there in silence for a while, Blues sipping his cocoa and Rock staring at his empty mug. Eventually, the elder robot finishes.

"You mixed something into this, didn't you, Rock?" He says after some more minutes of quiet.

"Uh...," Rock can't muster the courage to say yes.

Blues smiles at him. "Thank you, Rock. I appreciate it." He sets the mug on the floor gently, standing up and stretching a bit before wrapping his scarf tightly around his neck.

Rock stands. He knows what Blues was going to do now. He was going to run off again and try to fend for himself, not letting anyone stand by him or help him.

He can't say anything to stop him though. He opens his mouth to say something, to ask him to stop, to plead and beg him to at least share this one day with his family, but nothing comes out. His voice seems to not work anymore.

The younger brother of the two stands there silently as the older walks slowly towards the door, seeming to expect some kind of protest from him. Just as Blues reaches the door, Rock finally manages to spit something out.

"W-Wait! Blues, you can't really be going, can you?! I mean..." Rock's voice trails off. He stands there, reaching out slightly as his brother opens the door to leave.

Blues' lips quirk up into a half-assed smile, one that was obviously trying to be reassuring but even more obviously failing. "I'll be home for Christmas. You can count on it."

He walks through the door, shutting it softly behind him. Rock looks away, sadness clearly visible in his expression. His brother wouldn't be home for Christmas. It wouldn't happen. It never did. It was just another broken promise from a half-broken robot.


End file.
